Born on This Day 1927, the Best-Selling Female Artist of the 1950s Known for the “Tennessee Waltz”

Before Miranda Lambert, Reba McEntire, Dolly Parton, and Lainey Wilson, there was Kitty Wells, Bonnie Lou, Patsy Cline, and Patti Page. You might not be familiar with the name Patti Page. Still, your parents or grandparents certainly are, as Page is one of the most prolific figures in the development of early mainstream music. Her rise to the top started on this day, November 8, 1927, as the notorious country singer was in Claremore, Oklahoma.

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Born Clara Ann Fowler, Patti Page rose to fame in the 1940s, given that she was one of the first musicians to blend country and pop music. Prior to her mainstream success, Page was one of 11 children, and got her start singing on a local radio station in Tulsa, Oklahoma. However, she quickly made it to the big leagues, as Page’s big break came in 1947 at only 20 years old when she signed with Mercury Records. What came after that record deal was a career that defined the 1950s and the decades to come.

A Few of the Biggest Accolades of Patti Page’s Pop-Country Career

In 1948, Patti Page scored her first hit song with the single “Confess”. Following its release, the single peaked at No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100. Other than scoring Page her first hit, this song made history in another way, as it was one of the first recordings to use multi-track technology. In 2025, that probably doesn’t sound like that big a deal, but in 1948, it seemingly might as well have been wizardry.

After Page scored her first hit song, she went on to garner four No. 1 hits in the 1950s. Those four number one hits were “All My Love(Bolero)”, “I Went To Your Wedding”, “The Doggie In The Window”, and “Tennessee Waltz”. Thanks to these four No. 1 hits, and other notable tracks such as “Old Cape Cod”, “Detour”, and “Would I Love You”, Patti Page became the best-selling female artist of the 1950s.

During her seven-decade career, Page sold over 100 million records, scored 16 top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, and graced film/television screens across the country as a triple-threat entertainer. Due to her incredible success in the music industry, Patti Page won the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award shortly before her death in 2013. While there have been other musicians to match and surpass Page’s accolades, they seemingly wouldn’t have had the opportunity to do so if not for her foundational contributions to popular music.

Photo by Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images